Tuesday in Tippah County is a break from the weekend’s heat and storm talk: drier, cooler air is settling in, volleyball teams are on the road in four different directions tonight, Ripley is opening homecoming week against old rival Booneville, and four county cross-country teams are gearing up for a Thursday meet at Blue Mountain Christian University. The countywide burn ban, meanwhile, is not going anywhere.
Dry, milder air moves in behind the weekend storms
After a hot, storm-watch weekend covered in Monday’s roundup, Tuesday looks like a reprieve. The National Weather Service calls for sunny skies and a high near 91 today, with light north-northeast wind and no rain in the picture. Clear skies hold overnight with a low around 65. The cooling trend continues into the back half of the week: mostly sunny and near 88 Wednesday, dropping to highs in the mid-80s by Thursday and Friday, with dry conditions holding through the weekend forecast window.
That is good news for anyone tired of sweating through practice or a ballgame, but it does nothing for the underlying problem. Tippah County shifted from drought-free in mid-August to abnormally dry and now moderate drought in spots, and the countywide burn ban the Mississippi Forestry Commission made official earlier this month remains in force, with no outdoor burning of any kind permitted and fines running $100 to $500 for violations. A dry, sunny week is exactly the kind of stretch that keeps a ban like this in place rather than shortens it.
Volleyball teams scatter across four roads tonight
It is a busy night for Tippah County volleyball, and teams are headed in every direction, according to tippahsports.com’s schedule for today. Ripley and Walnut both have 6 p.m. matches on the road, with the Tigers at Clarksdale and the Wildcats at New Site. Pine Grove hosts Wheeler at 6:30 p.m., and tippahsports.com also lists a 7 p.m. Ripley-Booneville volleyball match in Booneville tonight. Fans should check tippahsports.com’s schedule page directly before heading out, since site listings can shift.
The trip to New Site is a rematch for Walnut, which swept the Royals at home last week and enters the season 21-4 overall and 5-0 in district play, among the strongest records in the county this fall. Pine Grove sits at 7-1 in district action. Both programs, along with Ripley and Blue Mountain, are worth watching as the season moves into its second half.
Ripley opens homecoming week against unbeaten Booneville
The bigger storyline this week is Friday night football. Ripley hosts Booneville at Tiger Stadium on Sept. 25 at 7 p.m. for homecoming, and it is a rivalry with history: Ripley leads the all-time series 37-29-2, including a 21-3 win in Booneville last season, according to a detailed preview from tippahsports.com. This year’s matchup is lopsided on paper. Ripley is 1-3 under second-year coach Rico McDonald and coming off a 34-0 home shutout, having managed just 15 points combined over its last three games. Booneville arrives unbeaten and riding a 62-12 win over Biggersville, powered by a run-heavy attack behind senior Tony Ogden.
Ripley’s one complete performance this season came in its Week 1 win over Mooreville, when sophomore running back Kyran McDonald ran for 211 yards and four touchdowns. Opposing defenses have loaded the box against him since. If the Tigers are going to make homecoming competitive, tippahsports.com’s preview notes it likely starts with getting McDonald untracked again and leaning on a physical, ball-control game plan similar to the one that has decided the last several meetings between these two teams, several of which were settled by a field goal or less.
Elsewhere on Friday’s schedule, Falkner hosts East Union and Walnut hosts Myrtle, both also at 7 p.m., giving Tippah County three home football games to choose from.
Ripley’s other question mark is at quarterback, where tippahsports.com’s preview notes junior Trace James and junior/senior Skylar Barkley have split time, with the Tigers throwing for just 80 yards in the opener and 135 against Grenada. Junior receiver Cole Rakestraw gives Ripley size on the outside if the offensive line can hold up long enough to use him. On the other side, Booneville’s attack runs through Ogden and senior receiver Kydon Smith, who caught 67 passes for 969 yards and six touchdowns a year ago and remains the Blue Devils’ vertical threat if Ripley’s defense keys too heavily on the run.
Cross country converges on Blue Mountain Thursday
Before football takes over the weekend, four Tippah County programs head to Blue Mountain Christian University’s trails Thursday, Sept. 24, for the Topper Trails Classic. Blue Mountain, Pine Grove, Ripley and Walnut are entered, with the varsity girls’ race set for 4:15 p.m. and the boys’ race following at 5 p.m.
Golf is also on the calendar this week. Tuesday sends Pine Grove and Ripley to an 18-hole event, and Thursday sends Walnut to Corinth in the morning and Falkner to Booneville for a nine-hole match in the afternoon.
For more on what’s happening in Ripley and across the county, visit Tippah News’s Tippah County News and Ripley News category pages.
Jon Ross Myers is the executive editor and publisher of the Mississippi News Network, Mississippi's largest digital only media company. He can be reached at editor@tippahnews.com
